Bob's Tale

We have a friend who lives at the end of a road - good for privacy, good for bad people dropping off their unwanted pets. The small terrified dog was quickly reclaimed after his sister posted it  online - the owner that came to pick it up told them her shitty (ex)boyfriend had nabbed her dog and dumped it. The Bluetick Walker was also reclaimed - our friend thought someone might have stolen that one in the hopes of selling it and when they couldn't, well, you can"t bring it back can you? Another dog went to the shelter, and then, then there was Bob. Our friend found this cat wandering his property, it had a collar, but no name or tag. He set up a box on the porch, letting it in while he was home and feeding it. His sister posted it online and he asked around, nothing. 

He couldn't keep it for a variety of reasons, so he called David and asked if we would like a cat. He thought it was a young male cat, very friendly and purr-ie, gentle and sweet. Now, people on occasion will offer me a cat or tell me the shelter have some I might like - I never take them. I don't go looking for them either, because eventually one will find it's way here. This cat had no where to go and  I had an opening. So we drove an hour out to his place and there was the cat - he had been feeling terrible about not being able to keep it, but felt better as he handed me my new cat and a hilariously large amount of food for a cat he was not keeping. The cat sat on my lap for the hour long drive - we had brought a carrier but it got so upset I was like forget it, I'll hold the cat. When we were almost home we passed Bobtown and I said to David that would be a great name for this cat, so when we pulled into the driveway it was me, David and Bob.  

Bringing an adult animal into a home with other animals is not easy. The first couple of weeks Bob spent all time we were not around in the basement  since the Terrible Two are not trustworthy with a new cat (toy)- we used Squirt Bottle Therapy to keep the dogs from eating the new resident and to keep the new resident from mixing it  up with Vincent the current King Of The Castle. Right after we got home I got the collar off, whoever put it on never checked it I suppose - it took about 20 minutes of trying to get it off without injuring the cat - it was so tight to this day, the cat still has a dent around the neck where all the fur was rubbed off, leaving raw skin. We discovered quite a bit about Bob - the cat is litter trained, the cat is more middle aged than young and Bob is a........girl. Our friend has never owned a cat so I should have known better than to take him at his word! But Bob seems to suit her and she has become a wonder part of our household. She loves David to death, she sits on the counter while he takes a bath "talking" to him, if she sleeps in the bed at night she stays on his pillow snuggling and purring fondly. We're glad we found her and I think she shares the feeling. And to the idiots that dump your pets thinking they'll be ok, they will NOT be. They'll starve, be terrified, if they're lucky they'll die quickly before suffering too much, if they're very lucky they'll find a new home like mine where I'll be making it up to them for the rest of their happy life.  I hope what goes around comes around - and it comes to YOU.